


Meeting a Good Neighbour

by solemnwar



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Dark Fic (Sorta), F/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Psychological Trauma, Slow Burn, antagonists to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 14:22:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13905876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solemnwar/pseuds/solemnwar
Summary: Ina woke up to a world that wasn't her own, and in an ill-fated venture into downtown Boston, ran into someone who'd make her face her demons... or be consumed by them.





	Meeting a Good Neighbour

Ina could barely see. Part of the reason was that the sun had set two hours ago, and the ruins of Boston only had the occasional open flame to light it up, the remnants of people trying to stave off the darkness and the monsters lurking in it. The other reason was the burning fever, reaching its peak after several days left untreated.

            She’d meant to head for “Diamond City”, the only large settlement she knew of, thanks to both the travelling trader Carla and the Abernathy’s nearby. It was, presumably, large enough to have a doctor that could help her.

            At some point, either with unfamiliarity with the changed landscape of the city, or the distraction of her fever, or perhaps a combination of both, she made a wrong turn and was now hopelessly lost.

            Matters had gotten worse when she’d run into a pack of raiders. She’d defeated them, but only just, wounded further and with almost no ammo left over. The stimpack had left her dehydrated, as she’d stupidly forgotten to bring extra water with her, and she’d run out while lost in the city’s maze.

            Leaning against a wall, she pulled her radiation mask off with a shaky hand to gulp in some cool air, a bid to relieve her dizziness. _There’s no one around to see you, it’s fine..._

            Her eyes darted around, straining to focus, to see _anything_ in the darkness. _Where am I?_ Her hands were trembling; she couldn’t make them stop. Anxiety pulled at the foggy corners of her brain and she quickly pulled the mask back down. _No one can see. No one can see. I’ll be safe that way._

            She heard a scuffling sound, and she whirled to face it, gun pointed ahead at the source of the noise. Almost immediately she felt nauseous, the world spinning from the sudden movement. Her legs gave out moments later and she helplessly fell against the wall, sliding down to the ground despite her attempts to stay upright.

            A growl came from the darkness, and as the source of the noise stalked closer, she was able to make out the shape of one of the mutated dogs in the weak light of the quarter moon.

            _Oh no. Oh god. I’m going to die here. Shaun, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I was never able to save you..._ A small, shaky sob bubbled through as she vainly attempted to push herself along, but her feet slid uselessly across the debris-strewn road. Her arms felt like they were made of lead as she struggled to lift the gun.

            She squeezed the trigger, and the shot went wild, the crack of gunfire absurdly loud in the dead city’s silence. The mutant dog started, jumping back slightly, then snarled, drawing closer, and she pulled the trigger again. Once again the bullet missed, the sound of it ricocheting off a surface almost lost in the echoing _crack_. She pulled the trigger a third time, and was met with the click of an empty barrel.

            _I’m sorry Nate,_ she thought, as the dog readied itself to make its killing leap. _I’m sorry. I failed._

            A bright light flashed suddenly, blinding, leaving the dog in a stark silhouette and the shadows at the edge of her vision even darker. _A bright light? I guess they were right. I hope I see you again Nate..._

            She started to slide sideways, unable to keep herself upright anymore. Her last coherent thought was _I would have thought the light would have shown up_ after _I’d been mauled to death._

            And then there was just... noise. Lots and lots of noise, while the bright light started moving around erratically. Nothing was in focus anymore, even sounds were fuzzy, so she couldn’t make out anything that was happening... but it sounded a lot like shouting and gunfire.

            Suddenly, there was silence, and the light swivelled back to focus on her. A scuffling sound as the light grew closer, and a man that she didn’t recognise approached her and knelt beside her. “Hey boss,” he shouted over his shoulder, “I think she’s still alive.”

            “What d’you mean you _think?”_ replied a gravelly voice somewhere in the darkness.

            “Well she ain’t saying shit an’ with the mask she’s got on it’s kinda hard to _tell_ , Hancock!”

            She couldn’t even raise her head to look at the other man, seeing only the edge of tattered, red cloth as “Hancock” stepped closer.

            “Well she seems t’ be breathing,” he said, voice fading in and out as she started to lose her tenuous grasp on consciousness. “Let’s get her to Fred, maybe he’s got something to patch her up, and then—”

            The rest of what he said was lost as she slipped into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Ina it's a good thing you're the protagonist or you'd be 100000% dead.  
> This fic'll be kinda dark-ish if only because Ina's kinda fucked up and Hancock's gonna accidentally push her into dark territory by virtue of being himself. Oops.  
> Working on a *slightly* altered timeline, in that Preston and co. haven't shown up in Concord yet.


End file.
